Washington has no intention of changing the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Saturday, adding that one of the US military’s main priorities is to deter China “through strength, not through confrontation.”
Speaking at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, Hegseth outlined the US Department of Defense’s priorities under US President Donald Trump.
“First, defending the US homeland and our hemisphere. Second, deterring China through strength, not confrontation. Third, increased burden sharing for us, allies and partners. And fourth, supercharging the US defense industrial base,” he said.
Photo: REUTERS
US-China relations under Trump are “better and stronger,” as the administration seeks “stability, peace, fair trade and respectful relations with China,” Hegseth said.
Reciprocal visits planned between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) next year are an opportunity to continue to progress bilateral relations, he added.
The department is likewise expanding communication with the Chinese military to prevent conflict and reduce tension, he said.
“This line of effort is based on flexible realism, not naivete, an approach aimed not at domination, but rather at a balance of power,” Hegseth said.
Repeating what he said at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore earlier this year, Hegseth said the US is not trying to “strangle China’s growth, or dominate or humiliate them, nor are we trying to change the status quo over Taiwan.”
US interests in the Indo-Pacific region are “significant, but also scoped and reasonable,” he said.
“This means ensuring none of our allies are vulnerable to sustained, successful military aggression,” Hegseth said.
He emphasized that the US would ensure its forces could operate continually throughout the first island chain and the entire Indo-Pacific region when necessary, making peace the preferable option to aggression.
US General Dan Caine, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, also spoke at the forum, saying that while US-China economic relations are moving in the right direction, China is still building up its military capacity on a large scale.
According to the National Security Strategy report released by the Trump administration on Friday, the US military has a responsibility to ensure a free, safe and prosperous Indo-Pacific region, Caine said.
That responsibility would guide him when considering action in the region, Caine added.
The report said that “deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority.”
The US would “maintain our longstanding declaratory policy on Taiwan, meaning that the US does not support any unilateral change to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait,” the report said.
The version released under former US president Joe Biden said the US “opposes” any unilateral change to the “status quo,” while the Trump administration’s version says the US “does not support” it.
American Enterprise Institute fellow Ryan Fedasiuk on Friday said the shift from “oppose” to “does not support” was “a meaningful downgrade.”
“Opposes” implies active opposition with potential consequences, but “does not support” suggests passive disapproval without commitment to take any action, he said.
Regarding whether this wording change signals a shift in US policy toward Taiwan, a US Department of State spokesperson on Saturday told the Central News Agency that the US is committed to maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
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